SGI-USA Study Curriculum
Lectures on the Hoben and Juryo Chapters of the Lotus Sutra
by SGI President Daisaku Ikeda
Dedicate Your Life to the Great Law
Sho zen-nanshi. Nyorai ken sho shujo. Gyo o shobo.
Toku hak^ku ju sha. I ze nin setsu. Ga sho shukke. Toku
a-noku-ta-ra san-myaku sanbodai. Nen ga jitsu. Jo-butsu
irai. Ku-on nyaku shi. Tan ni hoben. Kyoke shujo. Ryo nyu
butsu-do. Sa nyo ze setsu.
"Good men, the Thus Come One observes how among
living beings there are those who delight in a little Law,
meager in virtue and heavy with defilement. For such persons
I describe how in my youth I left my household and attained
anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. But in truth the time since I
attained Buddhahood is extremely long, as I have told you.
It is simply that I use this expedient means to teach and
convert living beings and cause them to enter the Buddha
way. That is why I speak in this manner." (LS-16,
226)
The Spiritual Struggle of the Buddha Who
Teaches the Eternity of Life
The lives of those who advance toward great ideals and
dedicate themselves to continuous self-improvement are always
pervaded with hope, fulfillment and inspiration. They possess
a brilliance of life that overflows from within, and a kind
of charm that words cannot express.
The Lotus Sutra urges all people to proceed along the path
of continuous advancement. "Aim to realize the great
state of life of the Buddha!" "Cultivate the boundless
universe within your heart!" The Lotus Sutra expounds
this supreme path.
To teach the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha first set forth various
expedient teachings as a means to guide people.
Although Shakyamuni, in the earlier sutras and the theoretical
teaching (first half) of the Lotus Sutra, taught that he
had renounced secular life at a young age and attained supreme
enlightenment for the first time in his present existence,
this was an expedient teaching he had expounded according
to the understanding of "those who delight in a little
Law, [and who are] meager in virtue and heavy with defilement."
"Those who delight in a little Law" indicates
persons who embrace the Hinayana or provisional Mahayana
teachings, or, more broadly, who are attached to an inferior
system of values or sense of purpose in life; and who, as
a result, do not aspire to attain the great state of life
of the Buddha. The Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai of China says,
regarding such people: "Their hearts are tainted with
worldly pleasures and attached to erroneous views";
and "They desire to turn their body to ashes and annihilate
their consciousness."
"Meager in virtue and heavy with defilement"
means that such people have accumulated few causes for attaining
Buddhahood, and that their lives are defiled with earthly
desires. "Defilement" indicates vices including
greed, anger, stupidity, arrogance, doubt, mistaken views.
and jealousy.
Rather than trying to teach such persons about the eternal
life of the Buddha who has been enlightened since gohyaku
jintengo, Shakyamuni told them that he attained enlightenment
for the first time in this lifetime, as a result of having
carried out various practices in previous existences. By
so doing, ultimately he was laying the groundwork for the
revelation of the Buddha's eternal life span (that is, of
his actual attainment of enlightenment in the remote past)
here in the "Life Span of the Thus Come One" (16th)
chapter.
Had he expounded the state of life of the eternal Buddha
from the outset, without employing the expedient of claiming
he had initially attained enlightenment in his present lifetime,
many would doubtless have slandered him saying, "Who
could believe this grandiose talk?" Or they might have
given up hope entirely, convinced that they could not possibly
attain such a great state of life. Either way, it would
have led to their abandoning their practice.
Because he started out by expounding the cause of his past
practice and the effect of his attaining Buddhahood for
the first time in his present lifetime, people could accept
what he said and therefore strive to attain their own enlightenment.
Moreover, with his teaching about the three vehicles being
replaced by the one vehicle in the "Expedient Means"
(2nd) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni had indicated
that all people inherently possess the world of Buddhahood.
There he unequivocally declared: "You should not pursue
the two vehicles or the three vehicles, but should strive
to attain the state of life of the Buddha, the one supreme
vehicle."
Because this foundation had already been laid, the disciples
who in the "Life Span" chapter caught a glimpse
of their mentor's state of life-vast and boundless as the
universe-rather than being plagued by doubt, could believe
in the teaching of his actual attainment in the remote past
with a sense of excitement and joy.
It might be said that Shakyamuni's preaching of his initial
attainment of enlightenment in this lifetime was part of
a grand "educational curriculum" that the Buddha
had conceived out of his profound determination to not allow
even one person to regress in faith or fall away from the
path to enlightenment. Such was the profound thought and
tenacious effort required to enable people to believe in
the eternal life of the Buddha.
Outside of Buddhism, as well, the eternity of life is a
theme that many religious thinkers and philosophers have
dedicated their lives to pursuing. Ultimately, however,
all such attempts have wound up as mere theory, or as the
personal realization of individuals, and could not be practically
communicated to people at large.
All of this points to just how difficult it is to enable
ordinary people who are "meager in virtue and heavy
with defilement" to comprehend the vast life of the
Buddha, which is without beginning or end. Herein lay the
Buddha's heroic spiritual struggle.
For the people of the Latter Day of the Law, Nichiren Daishonin
manifested the great life of the Buddha in the form of the
Gohonzon. Therefore, for us, faith in the Gohonzon becomes
the path to life's eternity.
Through believing in the Gohonzon, exerting ourselves in
doing gongyo and chanting daimoku, and dedicating our lives
to kosen-rufu, we can enter the path of eternal happiness
of the Buddha.
Those who believe in and practice the Mystic Law are not
people "meager in virtue and heavy with defilement.
"They are people of "supreme good fortune"
(MW-1, 92) who enjoy a status second to none. This is truly
an age that abounds with people "meager in virtue and
heavy with defilement" who "delight in a little
Law." It is regarded as natural to lead an inferior
way of life dedicated to the pursuit of hedonism or greed.
This may be a nihilistic age in which people simply find
it difficult to uphold great ideals.
In the very midst of this modem society, we are studying,
believing in, and practicing the great philosophy of life
of the supreme Law. With our gaze on eternity, we are taking
action to lead all humankind to enlightenment. No other
way of life is as noble or as replete with good fortune.
For precisely this reason, it is only natural that we should
be envied. If we did not encounter misunderstanding or prejudice,
or a certain amount of persecution- that would be really
strange.
Let us advance with dignity! With chins up and chests out,
let us continue working with still greater joy to cultivate
the hearts of others.
Regarding the significance of the line, "Good men,
the Thus Come One observes how among living beings...,"
T'ien-t'ai explains that it refers to Shakyamuni's determined
and all-out struggle, like a bounding lion, to benefit the
people of his day.
This passage of the sutra describes the Buddha's struggle
to lead the people to enlightenment. To practice for kosen-rufu
with this same dedication and resolve is to read this passage
with one's life.
Sho zen-nanshi. Nyorai sho en kyo-den. Kai i dodas^shujo.
Waku sek^koshin. Waku set^tashin. Waku ji koshin. Waku ji
tashin. Waku ji koji. Waku ji taji. Sho sho gon-setsu. Kai
jitsu fu ko.
"Good men, the scriptures expounded by the Thus Come
One are all for the purpose of saving and emancipating living
beings. Sometimes I speak of myself, sometimes of others;
sometimes I present myself, sometimes others; sometimes
I show my own actions, sometimes those of others. All that
I preach is true and not false." (LS-16, 226)
All the Buddha's Teachings Are True
The earlier sutras Shakyamuni had expounded were all for
leading people to enlightenment. Here, Shakyamuni emphasizes
that these teachings, while expounded from a variety of
different viewpoints, all represent the truth, that none
are false.
In the sentence that begins, "Sometimes I speak of
myself, sometimes of others," the word "sometimes"
(Jpn waku) appears six times. This is termed the "six
modes of preaching."
The Daishonin points to this passage as documentary proof
of the principle that "The world of Buddhahood contains
the Ten Worlds" (MW-1, 51). To explain, the words "oneself"
and "others" and so on indicate the various states
of life and activities of the beings of the ten worlds expounded
by the Buddha who attained enlightenment in the remote past.
The Daishonin, citing this passage, also says:
All of the Buddhas from the ten directions, the seven Buddhas
of the past, all Buddhas of the three existences, Bodhisattva
Superior Practices (Jogyo), Monjushiri, Shariputra, King
Brahma (Bonten), the Devil of the Sixth Heaven, Shakra Devanam
Indra (Taishaku), the god of the sun, the god of the moon,
the gods of the stars, the seven major northern heavenly
bodies, the twenty-eight constellations, the five planets,
the seven constellations, the eighty-four thousand countless
stars, the asura king, the gods of the heaven, the gods
of the earth, the gods of the mountains, the gods of the
sea, the household gods, the village gods, and the people
ruling over all countries throughout the world-can any of
these not be a manifestation of Shakyamuni, lord of the
teachings? In essence, Tensho Daijin and the Great Bodhisattva
Hachiman are also Shakyamuni. If Shakyamuni is likened to
the moon in the heavens, the multitude of Buddhas and bodhisattvas
are comparable to the moon's reflection on all bodies of
water. (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1187)
These manifestations of the ten worlds are all expedients
Shakyamuni taught to "save and emancipate" people.
These are actual forms that Shakyamuni assumed in order
to benefit people, and expressions of the compassion of
the Buddha who attained enlightenment in the remote past.
Such descriptions are certainly not a lie. Rather, they
indicate just how grand is the state of life of Buddhahood.
In terms of the Latter Day of the Law, "the scriptures
expounded by the Thus Come One" indicates the Gosho
of Nichiren Daishonin. It seems to me that we can identify
the same "six modes of preaching" in the Gosho,
which is the "scripture of the Latter Day."
"Sometimes I speak of myself" indicates Nichiren
Daishonin speaking of the state of life of the original
Buddha. "Sometimes of others" indicates the Daishonin
speaking of the state of life of beings of the nine worlds
from Hell to Bodhisattva "Sometimes I present myself"
indicates the Daishonin presenting the aspect of the original
Buddha. "Sometimes others" indicates the Daishonin
presenting the aspect of an ordinary person of the nine
worlds.
"Sometimes I show my own actions" indicates the
Daishonin showing the accomplishments of the original Buddha.
In other words, it refers to the Daishonin's struggles
to perpetuate the Law and accomplish kosen-rufu, as seen
in his fierce propagation efforts while undergoing four
great persecutions, including exile to Izu and Sado, and
his tireless efforts to encourage many disciples and set
down his teachings in writing.
"Sometimes those of others" indicates the accomplishments
of the Daishonin's disciples who exert themselves to spread
the teaching, make offerings to the Daishonin. and receive
benefit.
In other words, the "six modes of preaching"
of the original Buddha all refer to the Daishonin's own
conduct and the actions based on faith of his disciples
as related in the Gosho. The purpose of these various accounts
is to "save and emancipate" the people. Not one
of them is false.
The Gosho expresses the great state of life of the original
Buddha who yearns to save all people throughout the ten
thousand years of the Latter Day of the Law. Every line
of the Gosho explains one thing, the law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
The second Soka Gakkai president, Josei Toda, said:
All that the Daishonin saw and taught is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
If someone were to come to the Daishonin and ask, "Daishonin,
please tell me what is your most essential teaching?"
he would tell the person: "Okay, have a seat there.
It's Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. That's it in its entirety."
The Daishonin's teaching over a period of thirty years
all comes down to a single phrase. Therefore, if we believe
in the Gohonzon, chant daimoku and propagate the teaching,
then we are certain to attain enlightenment.
All of you are practicing this "one fundamental teaching"
for the liberation of humankind.
The Daishonin says, "I have merely been trying to
make all the people of Japan hold in their mouths the five
or seven characters of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Mine is like
the compassion of a mother trying to breast-feed her baby"
(Gosho Zenshu, p. 585).
It may be that many of you who take compassionate action
each day while striving to emulate the Daishonin's spirit
are experiencing successive sufferings or hardships. I make
every effort to be aware of your noble and difficult struggles.
But through this faith we can make all our actions shine
as the conduct of Buddhas and bodhisattvas expressed by
the passage, "sometimes I present myself, sometimes
others." To the extent that we worry, to the extent
that we struggle, all our efforts return to us as benefit.
"All that I preach is true and not false," the
sutra says. In Buddhism, definitely, no effort is wasted.
Sometimes worrying, sometimes sounding cries of triumph,
I hope that you will join me in enacting a glorious drama
on the stage of kosen-rufu.
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